


A Study in Sleep Habits by Hunk

by chocolateandnerves



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Gen, Multi, Sleepwalking, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-23 00:26:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7459413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chocolateandnerves/pseuds/chocolateandnerves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hunk sleepwalks. It's a wonder no one notices until he's in their bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Study in Sleep Habits by Hunk

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to do a warmup drabble, yet here I am, posting it on AO3. Enjoy. 
> 
> I have a twitter: [chocoandnerves](https://twitter.com/chocoandnerves)

Hunk knew he was a sleep-walker. Sometimes in the middle of the night, he used to wake up to find himself in the kitchens at the Garrison with a raging sweet tooth clutching his pillow in one arm. He never really thought it an issue—he never damaged anything, never scared or hurt anyone—so he never brought it up when he had to start living in the Castle of Lions. 

That was before he started waking up in other people’s beds. 

The first time it happened, they were traveling through deep space. Hunk clearly remembered collapsing into a bunk to claim it and promptly falling asleep, but as his bleary eyes pried themselves open to squint into a dark room, he realized he was trying to crawl into an occupied bed. 

The small figure in the bed shifted, and Hunk was almost certain they were Pidge and they were definitely still asleep and wow if this wasn’t a weird situation to be in, time to leave. 

The second time it happened, he actually woke up in Pidge’s bed, right before Allura’s wake-up call. The tiny paladin was curled up at his back, forehead pressed between his shoulder blades. Hunk, in all his awkward squirming and shifting, thankfully managed to get out without waking Pidge up and made it halfway back to his bunk before he heard Allura’s voice on the intercom demanding their presence at the bridge. 

Several weeks passed between the second and third times, but once again, Hunk was woken by the warmth of another body in bed with him and opened one eye to find himself nose-to-nose with Keith. The red paladin’s face was relaxed, scowl gone, and Hunk couldn’t help the calm spreading in his chest at the realization that this was a person who had his back. 

As he was wrangling his warm-fuzzies into submission, Hunk attempted to quietly slide off the bed and discovered very abruptly that he was much closer to the edge than he thought. He heard Keith sit up and scramble across the mattress to find Hunk groaning and rubbing his bruised tailbone. 

“Uh...what are you doing here, Hunk?” 

“Well, you see, the answer to that question is very complicated and difficult to explain without some awkward conversations and—”

“Did you sleep in my bed?” Keith asked, quirking an eyebrow. 

“I mean. Yes. Probably. Not on purpose!” said Hunk, a blush and a sheepish grin plastering his guilt on his face. 

“It’s fine, you know,” Keith said, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. Hunk’s eyebrows flew up. 

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind.”

“Well. Good. ‘Cause I kinda can’t control it.” And with a shrug and another sheepish smile from Hunk, Keith gave a chuckle, and relief flooded Hunk’s shoulders. 

The next few times he woke, Hunk found himself getting jetpacked by Keith, a slender arm wrapped protectively around Hunk’s thick torso. 

This went on intermittently for about a week before Hunk’s nighttime wanderings took him somewhere new. Just like every other time, he woke up hearing someone else’s breath—or, well, snoring. Probably sawing down an entire forest, by the sound of it. The unknown lumberjack whose bed he’d hijacked had their head tucked under Hunk’s chin, one arm slung over his ribs, and their legs inextricably tangled with his. 

Lance. 

Hunk really couldn’t think who else would sleep so haphazardly, and sharing the barracks at the Garrison had gotten Hunk intimately familiar with the sounds Lance tended to make in his sleep. (Including sleep-talking. But that was a whole other story that involved shaving cream and a chant about hot dogs.)

The nigh-impossible process of extricating himself from Lance’s friendly cephalopod impression was not an easy thing to go about beginning. Every time he tried to scoot away, a grumble emitted from Lance’s throat and his grip on Hunk grew tighter. Hunk huffed out a sigh. 

“Listen,” came Lance’s muffled voice, “if you’re gonna come in here, you gotta deal with this.”

Hunk snorted. But he happily dealt with it, unabashedly snuggling his friend until Lance squirmed away complaining of excessive heat. 

Hunk was worried about if he were to wake up in Shiro’s bed. It hadn’t happened yet, but he didn’t know how Shiro would respond if it did. He wasn’t sure if he would do anything bizarre to freak Shiro out, especially after the incident with Sendak, and Pidge did nothing to help assuage his fears. 

“I don’t think he sleeps. I’ve seen him get flashbacks, his nightmares must suck,” Pidge commented over their green breakfast goop one day. 

“What if I sleepwalk into his room? What if I do something really awful? What if I scare him by being really weird?” Hunk’s questions flew over Pidge’s head. 

“I dunno. He’d probably just shoo you out if he needed too. I didn’t even notice when you started coming to sleep with me, you’re pretty quiet,” Pidge said, eyes focused on a holoscreen and scrolling through ship diagnostics. “It’s fine, Hunk. Maybe just tell him?”

Hunk did not tell him. 

Which made it all the weirder when he woke up that night feeling a back pressed tightly to his, tailbone to skull. He’d barely made the decision to get up when he felt the bed’s owner turn over. 

“Hunk? You awake?” The guilt trying to settle in the back of Hunk’s throat dissipated when Shiro’s soft whisper broke the dark silence. There was something off, something different. Hunk turned over. 

“Yeah. Sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize for something you can’t control. Keith explained. I don’t mind.” The bed shook from Shiro’s short chuckle. “It was pretty weird to see you walk in like a zombie and climb into my bed though.”

“Oh great.” Hunk covered his face with his hands. How embarrassing. 

“I told you. I don’t mind,” Shiro emphasized, pulling at Hunk’s wrists. Hunk let him un-hide his face. “It uh. Helps. With the memories.” Shiro averted his eyes, the slight hint of shame on his face. It made Hunk’s heart ache. “It’s nice to feel like someone has my back when I’m asleep, ya know?” 

“I’ll always have your back, buddy,” Hunk reassured. He reached for Shiro and pulled him into a tight embrace, nuzzling the crown of his head. Shiro laughed and the ache in Hunk’s heart shrank at the sound. “Go back to sleep, Shiro. You need all you can get.” To Hunk’s surprise, Shiro immediately and obediently turned over, adjusted his pillow, and lay very still. 

“Night, Hunk,” he whispered. 

“Night, Shiro.” 

And so life continued this way, Hunk waking in a different bed almost every day, comforted by each of his new family members’ slow breaths and various reassuring touches. It helped in ways he never even imagined he’d need—quieting his homesickness, quenching his loneliness, calming his racing heart after a nightmare of a particularly nasty battle. And the best part? It helped them, too.

**Author's Note:**

> [Laura](http://archiveofourown.org/users/kankrisredsweater/pseuds/kankrisredsweater) and I decided that her fic [Smoochmaster](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7497120) and this one exist in the same universe, so please read about kissy paladins over there.


End file.
